An Anchor for the Soul

1 Thessalonians 1:2, 3:

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God our Father;

2 Thessalonians 1:2, 3:

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, for your faithgrows more and more, and the love of every one of you toward each other is increasing;

A few months after writing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul saw a need to send a second. He began the second epistle much like the first, thanking God that the believers' faith was growing “more and more", and that the love they had for one another was "increasing." But what of hope? A grateful acknowledgement of the Thessalonians’ “patience of hope” was included in the first letter, but is conspicuously absent in the second. Actually, some of the believers in Thessalonica had understood Paul's glorious declaration of Christ's second coming to be so imminent that they had even stopped working (2 Thessalonians 3:6)! Others had trouble with the delay in the return of Christ, wondering if perhaps that day had already come (Ch. 2). Paul wrote to undergird their hope and yet to remind them that it is God's timetable that must prevail.

The Greek philosopher, Plato, wrote an important allegory entitled The Cave, which explores a unique philosophical system embodying Plato's concept of Ideals, or Forms. In this allegory, the reader is drawn into a cave where certain people have lived their entire lives facing a wall. Upon this wall are the shadows of other people and things which are behind the subjects but which they (the subjects) are restrained from seeing. As these others pass by behind them, the subjects draw conclusions as to the nature and character of the shadows projected upon the wall. In the story, Plato then allows for one of the subjects to be freed from his restraints and to see the reality of the world behind the subjects and the world outside the cave.

This enlightened individual is of course amazed at the clarity with which he now perceives the world, and he realizes that all he had seen before was indeed a poor reflection, or shadow, of reality. Upon returning to his former companions in the cave, his insistence that the shadows are just that - shadows of a more perfect Ideal, is rebuffed as nonsensical. Much the same way, God adds the reality of Christ to the otherwise empty hope that drives us onward. He did this so that ... [w]e who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:18b-19a).

People have always fallen upon a hope in something – anything – to avoid the reality of the despair and angst all around us. And, indeed, the very notion of hope itself reveals an element of the reality of our longing for God. Like the shadows in Plato's cave, however, our distorted perceptions of Truth become so ingrained in our personal and societal psyche that we become comfortably disinterested - and even disbelieving - in the possibility of a reality beyond that which we perceive. And, like Plato's subject who was exposed to Truth, those of us who encounter God and begin to truly grasp the enormity of such an encounter are met with vacant stares or hostile responses from those who feel that our passion is foolish or naïve. Wishful thinking masquerading as hope is apparently okay. A true hope though, in a living God with a design on our lives, is dismissed as so much folly.

A wishful thinking kind of hope might be characterized by a young girl who has just witnessed a spectacular wedding and begins dreaming of her own special day: the dress, the flowers, and the music. Perhaps she even begins to fill a hope chest. But there is no substance to that hope. Later, however, when she meets the man of her dreams, says "yes" to his proposal, and begins to re-visit those same plans, there is a difference. The groom has a face; the date and location are set. Her hope is now rooted in reality.

This is the beauty of the living hope a Christian clings to (1 Peter 1:3). It is not some ethereal concept of a higher power with little or no concern for our lives, but an intimately involved Savior who invades every moment and every situation. It is not just some hazy, wispy notion of eternal bliss, but a concrete trust that such a Savior will not leave us or forsake us and will in fact take us to be with Him and to enjoy Him forever.

It would be a silly notion to receive an exquisite diamond ring yet be told that we cannot keep the simple box in which it came. So would it be were our Lord to suffer the pains of Calvary to secure for us eternal life and yet not give us the corresponding, substantive hope of that eternal life. Just as we are not called to a blind faith, but a faith grounded in the Person of Jesus Christ, so our hope is far from the wishful thinking so common in the world today. Rather, we have experienced salvation through God's grace, and that is our entree into eternal life. This is explicitly promised in Scripture and it is upon this promise that we hope for our ultimate purpose.

That hope is twofold: both for now and for eternity. For now we are assured of the Lord's constant companionship, His indwelling and His guidance. We can rest upon His promises of provision and protection - and that results in His promised peace. Such a hope urges us on through the darkest days and deepest valleys. For, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

This assurance allows us to display to the world the wonder of God's grace. For when they see us living triumphantly in the midst of seeming defeat, they see Christ.The talk comes easy, but when it is backed up with a sincerity that is undeniable, there will inevitably be an effect. Our spiritual lives must mature to such a degree that we can say with the prophet Habakkuk:

Though the fig tree does not budAnd there are no grapes on the vine,Though the olive crop failsAnd the fields produce no food,Though there are no sheep in the penAnd no cattle in the stalls,Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

In the face of debilitating trials and hardships, we have an abiding hope that God is with us and that we are secure in Him. That testimony is a tool God uses to draw others unto Himself. And in our own lives, such an unswerving commitment to our walk with Christ, and the hope which results from that commitment, should produce a confidence that endures in spite of our fickle and unreliable emotions. Certainly believers can experience grief and pain as acutely as non-believers, and yet there is an undercurrent of peace which defies explanation apart from our hope. Were our hope to end here in this life we could not respond to our crises with such confidence. Indeed, as Paul wrote, if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (1 Corinthians 15:19).

And understandably so. Our lives are often markedly characterized by the struggles and suffering that result from a life lived contrary to the prevailing world ideologies. Following the footsteps of Christ will take us through temptations and persecutions. This is no mystery to God. He sees our trials. He also sees the glorious end which we have only partially glimpsed but to which He is leading us step by step. Therein lies the ultimate confidence. Though we hope through our difficulties now, we have a hope that takes us beyond them as well. We look to the ultimate Sabbath-rest that awaits the faithful travelers (Hebrews 4:9).

When all is said and done, we don't even belong here. And when we (really) realize that, everything changes. We are “aliens and strangers in the world”(1 Peter 2:11).At times, this world closes in and tries to crowd out the view of eternity. But we must never lose sight of our goal. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Our hope is grounded in a God who cannot lie. Thus we proceed with confidence. We run the race believing that we will win; and this is our hope. And we certainly will win; and this is the substance of that hope, anchored in our souls by the promises of God, firm and secure.